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  • The Catcher in the Rye: Mental Health Services and Social Connections for Children

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    The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, was required reading for my tenth grade English class. I remembered it as a story about the struggles of adolescence, the yearning for independence, and the reluctance to let go of youth. My son is now about the same age as I was when I read the book and we are living through his own nudge for independence, which sparked my interest to give the story another read. Before I began, I wondered what my take on the book would be at this point in life having survived adolescence and received training and experience in child development in addition to having a teen in the house. This reading accentuated the unresolved grief, family dysfunction, mental illness, and lack of social connectedness of the main character, Holden Caulfield, and how these difficulties exacerbate the issues experienced during the typical maturational process. As the country still debates gun control laws in the aftermath of Sandy Hook, and as we try to recover from the Boston Marathon bombing, The Catcher in the Rye reminds us about the importance of developing meaningful and genuine connections with our children and the need to address their mental health issues.

    The Catcher in the Rye begins as a flashback story about Holden Caulfield’s experiences leading up to his nervous breakdown prior to Christmas. Holden narrates the story while receiving inpatient psychological treatment on the west coast. The events begin at Pencey Prep in Pennsylvania, where Holden has been expelled due to poor academic performance, and conclude in New York City as Holden attempts to return home. During the course of his journey, Holden attempts to make connections with a number of people however, he fails miserably due to his social ineptitude, lack of appropriate treatment for what may possibly be bipolar disorder, and inability to believe that other people are capable of being genuine. Holden eventually makes it home and connects with his younger sister. By that time he has decompensated to the point that, even though he is no longer experiencing suicidal ideations, he feels disconnected, misunderstood, and alone. Holden decides that he is going to go away, to escape from society and the rejection, the loneliness, and the pain that he feels. However, Holden makes one last trip to see his sister Phoebe before he disappears. Phoebe’s caring, anger, and innocence provide Holden with the connection he is looking for; she is both a peer and dependent to him. Through Phoebe, Holden is able to cling to his childhood and put off making the leap to young adulthood and independence.

    One theme that I was more attuned to during this reading was the unspoken dysfunction of the Caulfield family. Holden frequently compares himself to his younger, deceased brother, whom he describes as brilliant and athletic, as well as his older brother, who has become a successful author. It is suggested that Holden is a challenging child, and somewhat of a disappointment to his parents as he has been unable to live up to their expectations. He has been expelled from at least four preparatory schools due to poor academic performance, he has difficulty socially connecting with others, and he has frequent mood swings. It is possible that Holden’s parents were drained from watching their youngest son battle with leukemia which left them with little strength to effectively deal with Holden’s grief and potential disability. In Holden’s eyes, they appear to have emotionally and physically divested themselves from him. He has little to no emotional family support and what appears to be very little communication with them. Holden is left adrift to navigate this tumultuous time in his life without support, understanding, and treatment. His efforts to reach out and communicate, including failing out of schools and getting into fights, are not understood as cries for help but are seen as personal shortcomings.

    Holden perceives most people as being phony, superficial, and hypercritical. This may in part be due to his social awkwardness, lack of maturity, and feeling of being abandoned by his parents. He is continuously let down by everyone that he reaches out to for help as they either don’t live up to what Holden has built up in his mind, or they try to take advantage of him. Therefore, Holden comes to believe that everyone is phony who doesn’t or is incapable of meeting his preconceived expectations. In addition, Holden clearly experiences moments of mania during the story, which are often followed by feelings of sadness to the point where he does express some suicidal thoughts. It seems that the lack of communication with his parents, the unresolved grief and guilt over the death of his brother, and the inability to effectively and appropriately connect with others result in Holden being unable to interact with others on anything but a superficial level. The exception to this is Phoebe. Her reluctance to let her brother leave provides Holden with the strength to go home and ask for help. However, in the end, Holden continues to suffer from a lack of love and feelings of loneliness. He states, “Don’t ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.” At this point, Holden continues to find it difficult to have genuine, meaningful relationships believing that when you open up to people that they will turn away from you in order to keep the relationship on a superficial level. Holden continues to be plagued by this emotional void and, while there is a hunger for social connectedness, he will continue to experience emptiness and rejection due to his quirkiness.

    For me, reading The Catcher in the Rye in high school highlighted the struggle for independence and Holden’s war on hypocrisy. On this reading, I was able to obtain a better understanding of the tragedy that occurs as a result of Holden’s parents being unable to provide him the emotional support that he needs to overcome his brother’s death and deal with his mental health needs. Holden’s repeated failure to socially connect and develop a meaningful relationship with anyone other than his sister and the lack of treatment for his mental health issues made me think of the recent tragedies in Colorado, Sandy Hook, and Boston. It reinforced the need to take mental health needs and services seriously; just because these conditions are unseen doesn’t mean that they aren’t debilitating. Feeling cared for and connected to others reduces the stress, stigma, and isolation that are associated with these conditions. It made me wonder whether these tragedies could have been avoided if the people involved had received appropriate therapy and treatment. They may have felt connected and accepted, and these tragedies may have been avoided. The message of being accepted and cared for from The Catcher in the Rye continues to be relevant to young people today as we all strive for acceptance.

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    Source by David Pino

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  • The Importance of Randomized DOT Drug Testing

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    Catch Drivers Off-Guard

    There is a reason for randomizing the DOT drug testing. If drivers know when to expect the drug test every month or every quarter, they’re going to know when to stop using drugs, if they are using. They will know exactly how long it takes to flush out of their system in order to get a negative result.

    By randomizing it, you catch drug abusing drivers off guard. They never know when you are going to call them in for a drug test, and therefore if they are using, you are likely going to catch it. This will allow you to learn more about your drivers and keep the roads safe. If for any reason you catch an employee who is using, you will be able to apply the necessary disciplinary action, which can include termination.

    Deter Drug Users

    You want to be smart about who you bring onto your team. You don’t want drug users and therefore, you may be able to detect any of them when you announce that you offer a randomized DOT drug testing. The moment they hear randomized, they know they will not be able to beat the system. Therefore, they are likely not even going to apply to your company – they will move on to someone who has yet to randomize their testing.

    Ensure No One is Being Targeted

    Employees often like to say that employers play favorites. This is something you have to be extremely cautious of. If you don’t randomize your drug testing, it’s likely that someone will feel as though they are being targeted. Particularly if you have a third-party running the program, no one will be able to claim such a thing.

    It Allows You to Be Complaint

    The DOT wants to be sure that you are running the best program possible. This means that they want you to be randomized, and being compliant is of the utmost importance. If the Department of Transportation decides to conduct an audit on your location and you are found to not be randomizing your DOT drug testing, you could be fined.

    In the end, there are plenty of reasons as to why you want to conduct a randomized drug test. Whether you are a large company or an owner-operator, you need to remain compliant. This doesn’t have to be a task that you do completely on your own. Assistance is available to conduct all of the drug testing, and manage the entire program, should you desire.

    Take the time to explore your current system and determine whether it is running effectively or not. If you aren’t randomizing the drug testing, get started right away. If you are inundated with the process, seek assistance.

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    Source by Jeff Weigang

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  • Energy Healing And Body Talk

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    These days there are so many healing techniques available to us, like

    Quantum Touch

    Massotherapy

    Touch for Health

    Zero Balancing

    Healing Touch

    Chiropractic

    Chakra Balancing

    Ki Gong

    the list goes on and on. It’s exciting to know that more and more people around the world are accepting the healing value of alternative and complementary modalities.

    When we take a class in any one of these invaluable techniques, the focus of course is on learning the technique…

    –how to protect ourselves from picking up clients’ “stuff”

    –how to channel or run energy through our bodies out to our hands

    –how to approach and treat certain kinds of issues

    –the body mechanics we use, etc.

    What I see missing from the classes is how to assess the body healing type of the individual we are working with. What do I mean by that?

    Over the years, doing energy healing from the 1980s to the present time, I started to realize that with each person, I was addressing the energy flow to their bodies in a different way. Yes, there is the technique to follow, but after a while the practice becomes almost second nature. I found that as I was “listening” to the bodies, I was “talking” to them differently. And I haven’t found that kind of body talk mentioned anywhere in the energy healing field.

    Of course, I think that each energy healing therapist has a particular way that their inner dialog with the client feels most comfortable or most natural. But what I found was that, when I shifted my own inner preference for how I channeled or ran energy to match my client’s healing type, their recovery occurred in shorter lengths of treatment time.

    So here’s what was shown to me in the course of my years in energy healing: There are three basic types of healing preference that each body has: physical, mental, and spiritual. That seems to line up nicely with the complementary approach to body-mind-spirit healing, which is about the triune nature of being human. But what I’m referring to is the dominant energy healing preference each body is wired for. Each person’s body responds most effectively to the type of energy transfer that matches his or her own energy healing type.

    So sometimes I found I would be silently talking to the body and explaining what it was going through and encouraging it to heal itself. “Yes, you had a bad fall. You know your knee is injured, and you know how to fix it. You know how to do this.” This silent body talk flowed into their bodies along with the energy. This was obviously for a mental body healing type.

    Other times I found myself praying. Sometimes it was a standard prayer, sometimes it was a free-flowing appeal to the person’s guides or angels or Christ Spirit or Mary or an archangel or the Universal Healing Forces. Whatever came to mind to say, this prayer-type energy flowed into the spiritual body healing type.

    And of course, there’s the physical body type. This was a bit of a challenge for me, since most of the energy healing I do is in the bio-field around the body and there’s little or no physical contact. But the physical body healing type needs to feel it for it to respond more readily with its own inner healing mechanisms.

    So I’d touch the area in need, sometimes deeply, while my inner body talk with that person was more along the lines of a cheerleader, “Here it is. Go. Fix this. You can do it.” Or sometimes there wasn’t that much dialog, just a lot of purposeful contact while I ran energy.

    By the 1990s, I figured it would be easier for me to know ahead of time which client was which body healing type before the session started so that I could start the body talk right away. Since I’d been learning how to do dowsing, I asked my pendulum what the type was. You can probably also use finger-muscle testing, if you’re familiar with that. It’s a simple yes-no process of elimination as you ask which healing type your client is.

    There were some surprises that I learned along the way, too. People who I thought for sure would be one type turned out to be another, even though their personalities clearly indicated something else. Like my Dad. Here was a guy who was totally immersed in 3-D. If he couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist. A very physical guy. When he got older and started having health problems (and let me work on them, which wasn’t all the time), I dowsed and – lo and behold – his healing body type was a spiritual!!!

    Then there’s my Mom, who I thought for sure would be a spiritual type, but the dowsing told me she was a physical! She believed in the old-country ways of laying on of hands, had a strong church connection, which Dad didn’t have, and was even known to have healing hands when she was younger (which was great for us as kids). But her body responded more effectively to the physical body touch-approach.

    It reminded me of something I came across in the Edgar Cayce holistic health readings. He talked about the “body mind” as though it was something different or separate from the conscious mind. And now I understood that. The body does have a mind of its own. And when we address that clearly, it responds more readily to whatever healing energy we deliver.

    Another surprise was that some people turn out to have dual types. This is more rare, but when you find it, it gives you more variety in how you frame your inner dialog with the body.

    Finally, one night in the late 1990s as I was meditating, it was revealed to me that what my guidance had shown me described the way our Master Teacher, Jesus the Christ, healed people. For many of us, Christ’s healings in the New Testament were our first exposure to energy healing, even though we probably thought of it as magical or superhuman, not something we could all do (even though He said we could). Maybe even some of the priests and pastors of our formal churches did the “laying on of hands.” But think about this:

    When Jesus healed the blind man, he put mud on the man’s eyes and rubbed it in. Then the man could see. This was an example of the physical body healing type. The man needed to feel something happening to his eyes.

    When He told the cripple that his sins were forgiven, or to rise up and walk, He was addressing a mental body healing type. The man simply got up and walked away. There was no contact at all with him.

    Finally, when a woman touched the hem of His garment and He asked her why she did that, she replied that that’s what she knew she needed to do to be healed. Definitely spiritual or faith healing.

    There also is one other example of a type of healing Jesus did and that was when the Roman soldier asked Him to heal his good servant who was not present at the time. This was a beautiful and dramatic example of both distance healing for the servant and faith healing on the part of the soldier.

    During the course of working with many clients over the years, my own guidance has revealed techniques and understandings that were invaluable in helping my people regain function and health sooner and more easily. You can use this information for yourself as well during those times you need to amplify more healing resource into your own body. I hope you find this information applicable in your own interactions with people in need.

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    Source by Cheryl Salerno

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  • Nurture, Cherish & Heal – Living Well With HIV

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    Where there is life, it needs to be celebrated. Where there is hope, it needs to be nurtured. Where there is consciousness, it needs to be enjoyed.

    This becomes more important when someone is dealing with a life threatening disease like AIDS.

    Reiki does not claim to cure HIV. But it can go a long way in making the life of a person infected with AIDS, far better. From dealing with the trauma of the disease to helping minimise the side effects of medication, Reiki offers the infected person hope and strength – mental, spiritual and physical.

    Reiki works in partnership with conventional medical treatments, enhancing their efficacy and increasing their usefulness.

    How can Reiki help?

    Pain Management: Reiki can go a long way in helping with the physical symptoms of AIDS. Thousands of patients from around the world have benefitted from the healing touch of Reiki.

    Boosting the immune system: Reiki can complement the effect of various medications in helping to strengthen the immune system.

    Reduces Side Effects: Some of the drugs used in the palliative care of HIV patients can have quite a lot of side effects. Reiki can help in managing and reducing these effects.

    Counters Neuropathy: Approximately one third of people infected with HIV suffer from Neuropathy of one form or the other. Clinical studies have shown that Reiki can reduce the spasms caused by pain and help relax the muscles.

    Helps cope with the life changes: Often a person infected with HIV has to face not just the trauma of having a life threatening disease but also social stigma and ostracism. Reiki provides the ‘victim’ spiritual strength and wisdom to help cope with these life changes. It also facilitates better sleep, cures depression effectively and helps the person get a positive outlook in life.

    From self-healing to self-reliance: Reiki can be administered by a trained practitioner or the infected person himself. When the patient takes the Reiki training and heals himself, he feels more in control.

    So what is Reiki?

    Reiki is a laying-on-hands healing technique thousands of years old. It was rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist, in the late 19th century.

    Reiki is the God-consciousness called Rei that guides the life force called Ki in the practice we call Reiki.

    Reiki is the non-physical energy that animates all living things.

    As long as something is alive it has a life force circulating through it and surrounding it.

    When it dies the life force departs. If your life force is low, or if there is a restriction in its flow, you will be more vulnerable to illness. When it is high and flowing freely, you are less likely to get ill.

    Life force plays an important role in everything we do. It animates the body and is also the primary energy of our emotions, thoughts and spiritual life. Reiki makes this life force available to us in abundance.

    Nurture your spirit, and heal your body with Reiki.

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    Source by Urvashi Puri

    Views: 0

  • Does Affiliate Marketing Still Work?

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    Affiliate marketers earn money by selling products created by other companies in exchange for a commission. But things online have become much more competitive than when affiliate marketing first started out nearly 20 years ago. Affiliate marketing is still a good way to make money online, but the rules have changed in recent years.

    Today’s successful online entrepreneurs have figured out how to make affiliate marketing work more effectively so their efforts bring the results they want. How do they do it?

    Make Affiliate Marketing Work For You

    The best way to make affiliate marketing work effectively is to increase the exposure of your affiliate links. These are the links that take your prospects to a sales page or website and which track sales back to you.

    Your Own Website

    One of the most important elements of affiliate marketing today is to have your own website or blog. This is where you produce content relevant to the products you want to sell. You can write general articles and provide links to suggested products at the end of the content. The most important things to remember are that everything you write should be the factual and the truth. This helps position you as an expert worth paying attention to.

    Building an Email Marketing List

    It can be challenging to build an email marketing list these days because people have such jammed inboxes. That being said, knowing your niche and your target audience are two of the best ways to come up with an incentive they will be keen to get and so will be happy to give you their contact information.

    Two good incentives would be an eBook or eCourse on a hot topic related to your niche. Think of the kinds of problems people have in your niche and create an information product which offers real solutions.

    Be Careful About What You Sell

    Don’t promote anything you would not use yourself or are not impressed by. You don’t want to get the reputation of being an affiliate who will pretty much sell any old rubbish just to get a commission. Rather, you want to show you’re in the know, with great deals on products that really work.

    Keywords In Your Content

    Keywords related to your niche will help drive free traffic via the search engines. Your keywords should be related to your topic or niche. They should be words that an ordinary person interested in your niche would search for. Keyword all media files such as images and videos as well.

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    Source by Jon Allo

    Views: 1

  • Direct Marketing – 5 Essential Components of Successful Direct Marketing

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    Direct Marketing produced $2.05 trillion in sales in 2012. That represents about 8.7% of US GDP in 2013. This implies several key points.

    First, competition in direct marketing is stiff. With all those advertisement dollars being spent on direct marketing, you need to ensure your message is getting through and being heard. Second, with stiff competition, you need to craft compelling messages, not once, but repeatedly. You need to do this effectively and efficiently, if you want to do more than just tread water.

    Thus, it’s important to develop a marketing strategy that optimizes your budget spend by employing direct marketing more effectively. Here are 5 essential components of successful direct marketing.

    1) Deliver a Compelling Sales Message

    Several elements go into creating a compelling sales message. Successful sales letters and other marketing content must be relevant, useful, and persuasive. Marketing content that works grabs your prospect’s attention, shows uniqueness, and builds trust with your prospect. Employ these three elements in all your direct marketing content.

    · WIIFM – Tell your prospect exactly what’s in it for him or her.

    · Unique Selling Proposition (USP) – Clearly describe why your solution is the superior one.

    · Testimonials – Let your satisfied customers “sell” for you.

    2) Follow-up Leads Promptly to Attract and Engage Your Prospect’s Attention

    You might have a lead-generating sales letter, but if you don’t follow-up, valuable leads will slip through the cracks. Follow-up a live event with a phone call, an email, or a letter that invites the prospect to take the next step.

    Offer a free demonstration of your product or service. Set up an appointment with a subject matter expert who can go into greater detail on how your company’s solution works, and why it’s better than the competition’s. Then, before the scheduled demonstration, send a white paper that explains your product in detail.

    Follow-up, engage and spark your prospect’s interest in your solution.

    3) Promote Your Brand

    Benefits from branding give companies and edge over competitors that don’t brand. Branding helps position your product or service favorably. It also gives you pricing and distribution power. The takeaway is: never miss an opportunity to brand.

    Direct marketing affords you many online and off-line media to build brand awareness. Online media: (1) Banner advertising; (2) Blogs; (3) Email; and (4) Website. Off-line media: (1) Print advertising – sales letters, postcards, brochures; (2) Press Releases; and (3) Public Relations.

    4) Nurture the New Customer Relationship

    Lead nurturing is just as important as lead acquisition. Most companies want to develop long-term relationships with customers. That’s because they become repeat customers. And, over time, repeat customers generate more sales and profits to your bottom line.

    Outbound marketing provides many ways to build and maintain a thriving lead nurturing program. You can employ email, direct mail, social media, mobile, podcasts, seminars, phone calls, and videos.

    5) Integrate and Synchronize Online and Off-line Direct Marketing

    To optimize your message and direct marketing budget, success lies in finding the right mix of online and off-line methods. One method isn’t necessarily better than another. Instead, the secret sauce to successful direct marketing depends on how you weave these various methods together.

    You can integrate and synchronize these methods along the sales cycle beginning with message delivery. Start with a sales letter, follow-up with a phone call or email. Refer your prospect to your website for deeper marketing content, and don’t forget to brand throughout this process.

    Achieving the right marketing mix produces a “multiplier effect” that helps you close sales faster and easier. Employing different media in a consistent and coherent manner working towards the same goal optimizes your marketing efforts.

    Don’t Overlook the Value of Direct Marketing

    With so much attention focused on inbound marketing lately, it’s easy to overlook direct marketing’s benefits. However, as you can see, it still commands the lion’s share of sales. Therefore, it’s prudent to examine your marketing strategy’s focus and align your budget accordingly.

    Before you undertake a direct marketing campaign, employ these five essential components to compete effectively and efficiently for that $2.05 trillion market.

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    Source by Alex M Milo

    Views: 1

  • Social Entrepreneurship – Now is the Time

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    Social entrepreneurship is a major area of interest in many social and civic organizations and has a significant impact on many areas of society. During the past decade economic resources have become more difficult to acquire and society has continued to exhibit economic and cultural decline. Concurrently, communities are in need of initiatives that will enhance their financial viability and programs that will enhance the overall viability of the population.

    Social entrepreneurship initiatives are ventures that can serve as a method of increasing the social value of a community, organization or cause while enhancing the financial viability of a not-for-profit organization. With this being stated, social entrepreneurship has been defined in different ways by many different theorists. Gary McPherson, Executive Administrator of the Canada Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, states that social entrepreneurship involves various individuals working toward meeting social and economic goals simultaneously; while Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka, defines social entrepreneurship as a term coined to describe “individuals who combine the pragmatic and results oriented methods of a business entrepreneur with the goals of social reform.”

    A more basic definition of social entrepreneurship states that it is “the process of using entrepreneurial and business skills to create innovative approaches to social problems.” Therefore, it is a methodology that is presently being used to resolve community and societal concerns globally. Social entrepreneurship as an area of specialized entrepreneurship is not defined by the same titling in every culture. For example, in Latin America countries social entrepreneurship initiatives are referred to as “Micro Enterprise.” In India the same program would be identified as a “Social Mission.” Though termed differently in various regions, social entrepreneurship initiatives are being implemented to solve specific societal and community concerns by focusing on the needs and resource availability within specific geographic regions.

    Social Entrepreneurship in Education Throughout the United States, many top tertiary level academic institutions are enhancing their business programs by including a curriculum that caters to the study of social entrepreneurship. In 2003, the Center for Responsible Business was launched on the University of California Berkley Campus. This subsidiary of the Haas School of Business was implemented with the intent of training students to be more principled and socially responsible members of society through attending “the preeminent educational institution in area of Corporate Social Responsibility.” Stanford University also has established a Center for Social Innovation as a part of its graduate school of business. This center was founded with the mission to “build and strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations to develop innovative solutions to social problems for a more just, sustainable and healthy world.”

    In 1993, Harvard Business School started its social enterprise program with its mission of “generating and sharing knowledge to help individuals and organizations to create social value in the not-for-profit, private and public sectors,” and the University of Miami has refocused its business school curriculum to include coursework in the areas of ethical-decision making, social entrepreneurship and community engagement with the primary focus being to expose students to various areas of civic engagement while concurrently teaching them leadership and team building skills.

    Tertiary level institutions, including Duke, which has established a Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship as part of its Fuqua School of Business, and Columbia University where the research initiative on social entrepreneurship is embedded in its school of business, have also made strides to enhance the study and education of those seeking to venture into areas of social entrepreneurship and social venture implementation. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business-International (AACSB – International) has identified over twenty-four tertiary level institutions that have included social entrepreneurship as a part of their business college and or business curriculums.

    With social entrepreneurship being perceived by many as a new way of stimulating social change, Idee Winfield believes that the implementation of community-focused service learning projects is the first step in exposing youth to the various attributes associated with social entrepreneurship. Through community involvement, youth will begin to visualize and experience the various social issues within their community and envision ways to solve these problems. Winfield states that social entrepreneurship should be promoted in primary and secondary education, and coursework should be adjusted to allow students to “see how abstract socially focused concepts can have real world applicability.” Jeffrey Soderborg, a member of the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship Education, is also an ardent proponent of social venture education who believes that social entrepreneurship would be more readily accepted if youth were exposed to information expounding the laurels of these initiatives during their primary and secondary academic years.

    As youth expand their horizons through the establishment of entrepreneurial efforts, knowledge and exposure to information about the process involved in the establishment of entrepreneurial business effectively plays a major role in the rate at which business entities are established. A study focusing on entrepreneurial interests among black youth ages 14 to 19 identified that 75% of the youth surveyed had interest in becoming entrepreneur. The study also found that these minority youth believed that more information about entrepreneurship should be presented through their schools. They also believed that entrepreneurs have a responsibility to reinvest in their community.

    Corporate Social Responsibility

    Personal values often serve as the justification for entrepreneurs to focus organizational efforts on socially focused ventures. The organizational decision to forgo pursuing financial gain with the intent of using the corporations’ profit resources to enhance a community is often referred to corporate social entrepreneurship. Corporate Social Entrepreneur (CSE) is a term used to describe corporate initiatives whose primary focus is to enhance a social concern and whose secondary focus is financial gain. The corporate social entrepreneur differs from the financial profit seeking entrepreneur in the area of decisions made that affect the community and environment in which their organization functions. Research identified that in corporate social entrepreneurship business acumen serves as a factor in the success or failure of social venture initiative implementation. Research identifies that success factors associated with the implementation of social responsibility initiatives were linked to whether the entrepreneur exhibits behavior that is moral, amoral or immoral.

    The amoral entrepreneur would pursue initiatives only if they were deemed acceptable by the organization as a whole. The immoral entrepreneur implements initiatives based on what can be potentially gained for self as well as for the stakeholders, while the moral entrepreneur would pursue social responsibility initiatives based on what was in the best interest of the organization. Individuals identified as corporate social entrepreneurs are individuals who are more active in community activities and are actively involved in social responsibility efforts. Corporate social entrepreneurs also are more likely to implement social responsibility initiatives based on an organization’s long term objectives.

    While many corporations are looking for ways to increase their social responsibility efforts, in some regions corporate responsibility efforts are not progressing. A policy paper, “Corporate Social Responsibility in Latin America and the Caribbean,” documented that corporate social responsibility activity in this region has “stalled.” The reason for stagnation in this region is “minimal government involvement” and the lack of “private sector involvement.” It was also identified that initiatives to implement programs focusing on social responsibility are often initiated outside of the market, and then subsequently not embraced by stakeholders who reside within this geographic region.

    Corporations are continually looking for ways to increase corporate advantage through their social responsibility efforts. While proponents of corporate social responsibility believe that corporations are obligated morally to engage in efforts to enhance social, community and environmental concerns, many stakeholders believe that social involvement should only be initiated if the efforts are going to strengthen the organization’s image, brand, moral or stock value. With this in mind, corporations have separated social issues into specific categories.

    These categories are social concerns that are general, social concerns that are value chain based and concerns that focus on social dimensions of competitive contrast. Generic social issues are identified as social concerns that do not directly affect the company’s operation and do not have an effect on a company’s competitive advantage. Corporations are least likely to get involved or invest in projects that focus in these areas because they will not receive a high value of return on their involvement. Value Chain Social Impact issues can significantly affect a company’s operation and can have an impact on the way a company conducts business. Corporations are more likely to be involved in value chain concerns, but only after conducting due diligence studies to ensure that a return on investment will be achieved over time.

    Social issues that affect a company’s financial profitability or serve to enhance or increase a company’s competitive edge are likely to be areas that a company will invest in because of the direct impact that these initiatives will have on the company’s overall viability and stability. An example of a social dimension projects is General Electric’s investment in under-performing high schools throughout the country. General Electric believes that through investing financial and professional resources in under-performing high schools in areas where they have substantial financial investment, they are investing in enhancing a community, as well as directly increasing their future employment prospects.

    Whole Foods Market is an organization that has taken control of its social value position through purchasing products from local farmers. Also, Whole Foods maintains strict controls over all of the products produced and sold in all of its locations. They even have extended their social and ecological efforts through offsetting the use of in-store electricity with the installation of wind conversion generators, converting their trucks to operate on bio-fuel and trucking spoiled produce to regionally located compost sites. Though the investments in these technologies may be costly at the onset, the long term financial, civic and market exposure benefits far exceed any initial costs incurred.

    In the area of corporate philanthropy many corporations are at a loss. They continue to be involved in the conflict between philanthropic giving and investor requests for increased profits. For this reason many corporations engage in context-giving programs. Context-giving programs are programs that are defined as allotting resources to specific projects that will enhance the community while simultaneously enhancing the corporation.

    Examples of context-giving initiatives include the Cisco System Networking Academy, which trains computer network administrators and provides job opportunities to those who complete the program; the DreamWorks SKG film production program that trains low-income individuals in occupations that are needed in the film and entertainment industry; and American Express Travel and Tourism Academy which trains high school youth for careers in the hospitality and tourism industry. Corporations that invest in corporate-giving social venture programs are concurrently gaining positive return on their social investment, improving the economic climate of the communities where they are located and gaining positive exposure for their organizations.

    At times social ventures do not have the intended impact on the community. A study focusing on the impact of community focused business ventures found that businesses started with the intent of enhancing a community often lose focus by becoming focused on profitability and competition. Competition and self-focused motivators were identified to be factors that played an additional role in the impact and economic role that entrepreneurial ventures have in community settings.

    While many foundations, trusts and philanthropic organizations, accumulate and distribute resources with the intent of providing services to enhance specific community or social causes, many of these organizations are looking for ways to gain public exposure for their efforts. Organizations also attempt to leverage their gifting efforts through seeking not-for-profit organizations that are willing match the funding received. The success of funded programs is evaluated through performance outcomes and indicators, and through promoting the organization’s work through success stories provided by program clients. These methods are viable ways for funding agencies to acquire value and exposure through their philanthropic efforts and simultaneously continue their efforts to enhance the communities in which they invest.

    With the social philanthropic efforts of Warren Buffet and Bill Gates gaining a high degree of attention, and many leaders engaging in activities to promote social advocacy, corporations are seeking ways to also gain exposure with social entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship from the corporate perspective can be defined as corporate social initiatives used by a corporate entity as vehicle to show support for social causes. In recent years, many Fortune 500 companies have implemented social ventures with the intent of enhancing their corporate image through providing funding for various social causes.

    McDonald’s is one such company that has funded social causes for many years. McDonald’s primary social venture is the Ronald McDonald House Charities. The Ronald McDonald House provides lodging for the families of adolescents, ranging in age from birth to 18, who are receiving critical care for illness in communities that are away from their community of residence. The Ronald McDonald House allows families to reside in these temporary living facilities throughout the child’s period of treatment at no charge.

    The Federal Express Corporation also funds programs focused on the implementation of socially responsible programs. FedEx is a supporter of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and has been acknowledged by Reader’s Digest as one of “Americas Best Charity Minded Corporation.” Federal Express has also been recognized for providing funding for numerous community and civic organizations, including March of Dimes, Heart to Heart organization, an organization that focuses on delivering food and health resources globally, the United Way and the National Civil Rights Museum. These are just a few of the charitable initiatives that allow Federal Express to present itself as a socially conscious organization.

    Virgin Mobile has partnered with Youth Noise, a not-for-profit organization that brings youth together for networking and brainstorming opportunities, and Stand Up for Kids, the largest all volunteer not-for-profit organizations in the United States, to implement an initiative to expand its corporate social responsibility activities. The project involves recording artists donating ring tones to Virgin Mobile and through partnership agreements, 5% of the proceeds received through ring tone sales are donated to various “Virgin Mobile Charity Partners.” This initiative, established in June 2006, is being positioned to raise over $250,000 annually.

    For social ventures to gain global acceptance, corporations need to become involved in ventures that allow employees and consumers to see the social, community and external benefit of these ventures. This process is identified in countries south of the United States, where the concept of social responsibility is one that has been embraced by many but implemented by few. Many government organizations expect non-government, or private organizations to take responsibility for ensuring the stability and longevity of the resources throughout this region while the private sector is looking toward government agencies for intervention.

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    Source by Paul Van Putten

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  • Why Choosing an Eye Doctor Is So Important

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    Eye doctors are extremely valuable individuals because they can help you maintain healthy vision throughout the course of your life. Choosing the right eye doctor can mean the difference between healthy vision and poor vision. That is why choosing an optometrist is so important. Your eyes are your windows into the world. If you lose your sight for any reason, that window will be closed permanently. No one ever considers the possibility of going blind. But it often occurs due to sudden eye trauma, old age, or development of certain eye diseases. A good optometrist can help you address these problems quickly and effectively, and already having developed a history with one can be time-critical.

    For individuals who can see relatively well, the consequences of poor eye health might not cross their minds. But just because you see well today doesn’t mean that you will be able to see well tomorrow. Accidents happen all the time and we can lose vision simply as a result of the aging process. Even if you don’t wear glasses or contact lenses, you still need a good eye doctor because everyone should have their eyes checked on a regular basis, regardless of their past medical history. That is why choosing an optometrist is so important. If you or your children start experiencing eye complications or vision problems, you’ll want a reputable eye doctor to take care of them and help you.

    Choosing an optometrist is easy. You can start with the phone book and look up the names of different eye doctors in your area. Or, you can do a search on the Internet. If you have friends or family members who wear glasses, you can talk to them to find out which optometrist they see on a regular basis. If their eye doctor is accepting new patients, then you should be able to get in for an appointment easily. If you don’t have any friends or family members who wear glasses or go to an optometrist, then searching through the phone book or on the Internet is your next best option.

    The Internet can give you a list of optometrists and also show you how far they are from your location. For example, you can search for “eye doctors in Austin, TX” and a list of eye doctors who work in Austin will appear on the computer screen. Then it’s just a matter of scrolling through the names and deciding which optometrists are closest to you. Start with one eye doctor, and make a phone call to see if they have any available appointments. The best way to determine if an optometrist is right for you is to schedule an appointment and see for yourself. If you like the eye doctor during your appointment, then your work is done. But if you don’t like the optometrist (for whatever reason), then you can choose another one off from your list and schedule an appointment with him or her. Choosing an optometrist is a lot like choosing a mechanic – sometimes it takes a few bad ones before you find a good one.

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    Source by Roger Ubik

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  • Super HPV Cure – Use This Secret Remedy That Only Few Know To Cure HPV

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    HPV that causes genital warts in humans are thought to be incurable. Many people who are infected with this disease are forced to take modern medications that involves drugs to cope with the symptoms. The usual treatment for hpv include: freezing of the warts, surgical treatments to remove the warts, applying genital warts removing creams on affected areas etc. But in this article, I will reveal a secret remedy that no one has ever spoken about.

    Natural home remedies for genital warts such as applying, apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil are effective. But do you know that there is in fact a highly potent, special remedy for genital warts that are only known by few people? Doctors may have said that there is no cure for HPV and many people believed them and sort of resigned their fate to this disease. In this article I will reveal to you one super remedy that can cure your genital warts symptoms effectively and permanently.

    This super remedy is called the Black seed or Black cumin or Nigella sativa. Black seed or Nigella Sativa is often dubbed by healing experts from all over the world as the “cure to all ailments”. If you have been suffering long enough from the “incurable HPV and genital warts” symptoms, try doing this and see the results for yourself. I am sure that you will not be needing any steroids or antibiotics medications anymore.

    You see, most of our health complications have the same causes that is infection by micro-organisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Nigella Sativa is very effective at treating your body as a whole. It actually combat and eliminate the root cause of the symptoms.

    If your immune system is either too weak or too strong, Black seed will regulate them in such a way that it will be able to excellently treat chronic, allergic and hormonal diseases. Not only that, Nigella Sativa or Black seed has many other benefits as well. It support your metabolism, improve your digestion, and lowers blood sugar levels.

    Treat your genital warts naturally and quickly. Be safe from dangerous side effects of modern medications which involves drugs and chemicals. Go over to my blog now, there are many info that you can read and benefit.

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    Source by Sam Simon

    Views: 0

  • Music Sparks Emotion in a Video Commercial

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    Have you ever tried to watch a video commercial or advertisement without music? If so, there are few things you may have thought: that it was different due to the silence yet you seemed to like it, or you didn’t care for it at all making it easy to go on with your daily activities never giving it a second thought as to what the commercial was even selling. Ninety five percent of the time the latter happens because music is almost a sure-fire way to create emotions and moods in video advertising.

    When it comes to advertisements, music has the power to create better moods in video commercials, as well as to bring a more personal touch to these ads. As a result, it provides a better impact to their target audience, therefore effectively promoting products and services.

    While visuals might be appealing to marketers’ target consumers, the use of music in video media advertising tends to create a more lasting impression in consumers’ minds, providing a great chance for companies to build positive brand or company images.

    Setting the Mood

    Simple video advertisements sometimes could set the proper ambiance when they are without music. Of course, there are some scenes which might be perfectly shot and produced, but music enhances this mood and ambiance in any video media, providing a great complement to these scenes and stamping a long-term impact in the audience’s minds.

    Consider this situation: There is a video of a woman who seems to be standing in the middle of crowd. With the video alone, it doesn’t seem to mean anything. There is also a big chance that people would simply forget it, thinking that it is just some boring video. On the other hand, applying music in this advertisement would set a deeper mood – something that would connect better to the target audience. Slow music in this situation would set the mood of sadness, as if the woman is sadly waiting for somebody. On the other hand, upbeat music would set a more positive and outgoing mood, as if the woman would soon do something funny.

    Suggesting the Right Emotions

    The use of music in video commercials also hints what the audience or the target market should feel when they see these ads. Without music, people are sometimes confused as to how they should react to these ads. Music in video ads makes sure that your desired feelings are conveyed to your audience by suggesting certain emotions. It does not overly push the feeling towards your audience, but it acts as a way to make your audience think about what they should feel as suggested by the music. Music in video media ads, therefore, helps marketers and advertisers to somewhat help tell the target audience which kind of feelings should be felt in these video advertisements.

    Evoking More Intense Emotions

    Simple emotions found in scenes in video ads can be heightened further with the use of music. A scene of a sad woman would even be sadder with the right music, and can evoke more intense emotions to its viewers. Music can greatly affect the effectiveness of these video media ads because they can make the audience relate to a particular emotion or feeling. Affecting people’s emotions through music will make your advertised product, service or company to be related to a particular strong emotion, such as happy, uplifting, energetic or loving.

    Catchy Tunes Tend to Leave Longer Lasting Impressions

    Admit it – once in your life, you might have had some music stuck in your head because it was played in some video advertisement. Months or years later, you still remember that particular product, service or company whenever you hear the music. People tend to link music, brands and companies together, which just shows how effective music can be in video advertisements as compared to using only text or visuals. Video media advertising and commercials with music invest in long-term brand or company images in the consumer’s minds.

    Video advertisements that tend to be the most effective, almost always balance between the use of audio and video. Music can enhance the audio, and it should offset the video to effectively relay the marketers’ desired messages to their particular audiences.

    Some advertisements are better without music, but these are very rare and always depend from case to case. Most of the time, the best advertisements which leave lasting impressions are those with perfect mixtures of audio and video. The next time you watch a video advertisement, consider muting the audio. You will see a different message and effect as compared to watching it with the audio and music.

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    Source by Ann Rountre

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